VZCZCXRO5361
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #4037/01 3621245
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271245Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1021
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004037 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL 12/26/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON IZ
SUBJECT: MAYSAN: AMBASSADOR URGES SADRIST PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT TO 
IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH GOI 
 
This message is Sensitive but Unclassified; handle accordingly.  Not 
for distribution on the Internet. 
 
¶1.  (U) This is a Maysan PRT report. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) During a December 18 meeting in the provincial capital 
Amarah, the Ambassador encouraged the Sadrist Provincial Council 
Chair and the ISCI Deputy Governor to work to improve the provincial 
government's strained relationship with the GOI and to take 
advantage of USG assistance programs that will develop as a result 
of the Security Agreement and Strategic Framework agreements.  The 
PC Chair and Deputy Governor raised common Maysani concerns about 
the perceived lack of GOI efforts to address problems with the oil, 
education and electricity sectors and to combat the extensive 
unemployment that continues to plague Maysan.  The Ambassador 
encouraged provincial officials to work with other provincial 
governments to share best practices on how to stimulate economic 
recovery.  The Ambassador thanked the PC Chair and Deputy Governor 
for the provincial government's efforts to strengthen the 
relationship with the PRT and Coalition Forces (CF, and to 
coordinate reconstruction assistance.  End Summary. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) During a two-day trip to Maysan province on December 
17-18, the Ambassador met with Sadrist PC Chair Chairman Abdul 
Jabbar Wahid Homaydi and Deputy Governor Abdul Hussein Abdul Radha 
(ISCI) at the Government Center in the provincial capital, Amarah. 
The Ambassador thanked the PC Chair and Deputy Governor for their 
efforts to strengthen relations between the Sadrist-controlled 
provincial government and the PRT and CF.  The PC Chair responded, 
"We feel the effects of this relationship and thank you for it," 
adding that the team leader has other good ideas and has encouraged 
the provincial government to implement projects using their own 
resources.  The Ambassador also urged the provincial government to 
continue mending its strained relationship with the GOI. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Ambassador heard common provincial frustrations about 
GOI inattentiveness to provincial struggles to repair its defunct 
oil infrastructure, reduce unemployment, rebuild the education 
system, and address shortages of electricity and clean drinking 
water, for which the PC Chair and Deputy Governor appealed for 
additional USG assistance and intervention with the GOI.  The 
Ambassador agreed Maysan possesses vast oil and gas potential, and 
encouraged provincial officials to lobby the GOI to pass legislation 
to create the necessary legal structure to develop resources for the 
good of the country. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Ambassador also encouraged provincial officials to 
take advantage of programs that will develop as a result of the 
recent Security Agreement (SA) and Strategic Framework Agreement 
(SFA).  The SFA, for example, calls for bilateral cooperation in a 
variety of fields, and the recently signed GE turbine contract will 
double Iraq's generation capacity to 14,000 MW.  He added that 
provincial leaders should work with the Ministry of Electricity to 
ensure Maysan receives its share.  The Ambassador also described 
other areas of future U.S./I, and emphasized that the provincial 
government should look to expand the PRT's current collaboration 
with Maysan University. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The PC Chair boasted about the provincial government's 
efficiency in executing its budget, and told the Ambassador that 
other provinces were learning from Maysan's example.  The Ambassador 
encouraged provincial officials to work with other provincial 
governments to share best practices on how to stimulate economic 
recovery. 
Qrecovery. 
 
7  (SBU) Deputy Governor Radha asked the Ambassador to intervene on 
Maysan's behalf concerning water resources, noting that Turkey was 
diverting large quantities of water.  He also raised unemployment, 
emphasizing the need for vocational training to put Maysanis back to 
work.  He stressed that outside investment was necessary to 
rehabilitate the factory system in Maysan and to help absorb the 
unemployed.  He added that secondary schools and the 
government-sponsored university systems were not up to standard, and 
requested assistance to build a new university and develop 
scholarship programs for study-abroad programs.  The Ambassador 
responded that the PRT was looking at ways to address these problems 
through vocational training assistance and microfinance programs to 
stimulate small business development. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) PC Chair Hoymadi concluded the meeting by emphasizing to 
the Ambassador that tribal support councils were unhealthful for 
Maysan because the tribes no longer wielded the influence they once 
did.  He pointed out that although many tribal members were 
candidates in the last elections, few were elected.  He also 
cautioned that the tribal system should not become an alternative to 
the provincial government.  The Ambassador raised tribal leaders' 
concerns that the provincial government had refused to provide 
assistance to the tribes, to which the PC Chair responded that 
tribal leaders had insisted on receiving funding directly to 
implement their own projects, rather than through the provincial 
 
BAGHDAD 00004037  002 OF 002 
 
 
governments' overseeing project development.  Following the meeting, 
the Ambassador and his delegation shared lunch with the PC Chair and 
Deputy Governor. 
 
 
CROCKER